Farewell parade for Army members departing to Timor Leste

The Parliamentary Secretary for Defence, Senator David Feeney, farewelled 171 members of the Timor Leste Task Group 4 preparing for deployment to Timor Leste on Operation Astute at a parade on Sunday.

The farewell parade, which was held at the RAAF Williams in Laverton, Victoria, was well attended by the friends and families of the soldiers.

Senator Feeney said the parade was an opportunity for family, friends and the wider community to formally farewell the deploying troops.

“The soldiers will be deploying in February and will complete an eight-month operation,” Senator Feeney said.

“This parade is an opportunity to show them our appreciation.”

The soldiers are drawn from Army reserve units across the 2nd Division but primarily from the 4th Brigade. The task group also draws on Regular Army units from the 7th Brigade.

Operation Astute is the Australian Defence Force’s contribution to the Australian Government’s response to a request from the Government of Timor Leste to assist in restoring peace and stability to their country.